He’s breathtakingly handsome, sitting there with disheveled hair, no shirt, and a goofy grin on his face. It pisses me off that he has to be so damn attractive. Especially his stupid dimples that show themselves when he smiles. Ugh, we live in a cruel, cruel world.
I roll my eyes, which only makes him laugh harder behind me. I hate that he finds it so entertaining to annoy me, but at the same time, I love that nothing has changed between us.
The timer goes off. I grab the bottle and settle in on his couch. I realize I’m still in his T-shirt as I sit here with one leg folded under me. This is not the typical morning after with a guy. This is what married couples with kids do on the weekends. It’s extremely confusing and bound to blow up in my face.
Chapter Eighteen
Walker
Itry not to watch her feed my daughter and let it get to my head, thinking I could have everything I want. I just gave in to my desires, but that doesn’t mean I know what the hell I’m doing. For a minute, I convinced myself that maybe, secret be damned, I could still be with her and live with the consequences, silently knowing what I know.
But I know I can’t do that. An entire life of keeping that in would probably send me to an early grave, and now I have a daughter to put first.
A sharp rap at the door shatters the silence.
Jessie meets my eyes. “Are you expecting anyone?”
I shake my head as I get up. “No, I’m not. Sunday morning at this hour, I’m normally at work.”
I catch her eye roll but choose to ignore it. I open the door, and Eva pushes through the door while Roman walks in with the stroller and a sleeping Addie.
“Don’t get mad at me,” he warns as I close the door behind him. “I’m just following my wife’s lead.”
Fear turns in my gut. What does Eva have up her sleeve? I turn my attention to her, but she’s busy with her jaw on the floor. It takes me a second to put it together until I see the stunned look on Jessie’s face, who is sitting on my couch at nine in the morning on a Sunday, feeding my daughter … in nothing but my T-shirt.
“Eva, why are you just standing there like that? You—” Roman stops in his tracks as he walks farther into my place and spots Jessie. A big grin spreads across his face. “I told you!” he shouts.
“I can’t believe it. I mean, I kind of thought maybe it was true after yesterday, but I didn’t think they would give in so easily.”
I step in between them. “Hold up. What the hell are you two talking about? And”—I turn to my sister—“what are you doing here?”
She folds her arms in front of her and pops out a hip. “What? I’m not allowed to visit my brother?”
I narrow my eyes at her, daring her to continue with her bullshit.
She throws her arms in the air. “Fine! I called Mom and Dad. We’re going to Sunday brunch with them. I knew you’d drag your feet, telling them, so I’m helping you rip off the Band-Aid.”
I clench my fists, and my nails bite into my palms.
I can’t believe she did that. She has completely overstepped so far that she’s in another damn zip code.
Roman just pushes his hands in the air like he had nothing to do with this.
“Eva”—my words cut through thick waves of rage—“that is?—”
She holds up her hand. “I don’t want to hear it. You have known you have a daughter for two weeks now. At this point, you’re just hiding her. You’re doing this. You know you have to. It’s the right thing. Eli has grandparents, and they deserve to know, despite how cold they can be.”
She checks the time on her watch. “Now, we have to leave in thirty minutes if we want to get there on time. We’ll watch Eli if you two”—she smiles—“want to get ready.”
Jessie continues to feed Eli while her cheeks turn pink.
“Fine. Come on, Jessie.”
I’ve already learned that fighting with Eva is useless. She’ll just keep going until she gets what she wants.
Jessie’s eyes dance between mine and Eva’s like ping-pong balls. “Ugh, I don’t … have anything to wear. And … I don’t think this is a brunch that I should be attending.”
Eva joins her on the couch just as Eli is done sucking down the bottle.
